Rafael is an Associate Research Scientist in the laboratory of Prof. Akiko Iwasaki in the Department of Immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine. He studies how dysregulation of the complement system, a key component of the innate immune response, may contribute to post-acute infectious syndromes such as Long COVID. A particular interest of his is translating our understanding of key immune processes into targeted, and well-tolerated therapeutics. He obtained his PhD from the University of Copenhagen in 2018 under the mentorship of Dr. Peter Garred.
He is the proud father of Milo (5 yrs.) and Lilou (2 yrs.). In his spare time, he enjoys martial arts (currently Taekwondo), board games (playing and designing), sports (snowboarding, kayaking), miniature painting, and is beginning to explore pottery and jewelry making.